“No. That water is too mineralized to sustain any desirable life forms,” Alyce replied. “The few species that could survive in that environment are carnivorous.”
“Ah,” Holly said. “We don’t want that.”
“No, we donot,” Alyce said with emphasis. “As we reach the midpoint of the dome, take note of the squat concrete building just there.” Alyce directed Holly’s attention to just that: a simple, square of a building in an unassuming shade of tan. “Our water source is in underground tanks accessible through that building. Initially, Oliver Moone intended to use the cavern located under the station to store the water, but that did not go as planned, so tanks were installed down there. The water and filtration system are accessed via that building. As you likely know from your files,the outpost is irrigated by a system that pumps water up through tubes in the dome’s uppermost support beams and deposits it in the form of rain. After which, it’s pre-filtered through the soil, then funneled back into the filtration system. Unfortunately, not all the zones are operational, so there are areas that receive no rain at all, such as the town square. Rain happens once per week, at night.”
“Well, that needs to be repaired,” Holly muttered. “I’ll add it to the list.”
“Good.” Alyce swept a hand ahead of them. “And now we enter the forest and adjacent gardens. This area comprises two-thirds of Moone’s Landing and is vital for oxygen production and carbon dioxide processing.”
Thezigfell under the shadows of the trees and the air cooled. If not for the glint of the dome and its metal supports far above, Holly could easily forget that she wasn’t on Earth in a real forest.
“Many of these trees are over a century old.” Pride laced Alyce’s voice. “There are species represented from multiple planets, not just Earth. All were tested for compatibility with the others to form a strong ecosystem. Birds, insects, and small creatures also dwell in the forest, although not all were intentional. Some—more than is ideal—were abandoned by travelers or were accidental stowaways that escaped during stops or in transport containers. We do not have the resources to catalogue and remove them at this time.”
“Are any dangerous?” Holly wanted to know.
“So far, no one has been injured or killed by the wildlife, but I would also advise you not to venture too far off the paths.” Alyce sent Holly a meaningful glance. “This is one reason I told you to keep Bean on the leash. That little dog’s nose would find trouble, even if trouble wants nothing to do with him.”
Well, that made sense. Beanwasa beagle, after all, and she knew beagles’ origins were that of hunting dogs. Althoughhunting live animals became illegal on Earth back in the year 2278, dog breeds still existed, and their genes remembered what they’d been originally bred for. Bean didn’t look quite like the beagles of hundreds of years prior, but he was still wired to catch the scent of prey and track it down.
“The gardens provide much of the food we consume here,” Alyce continued on, as thezigpassed into a section of the station made into grids with different crops growing in them. “You are welcome to harvest and prepare food, too. Most of the residents’ living units have simple kitchens for preparing meals.” Holly saw an orchard filled with different fruit trees on one side of the road. In addition to plants grown in the ground, vertical planting walls held cascading plants, heavy with vegetables and berries. Most of them, Holly couldn’t identify. If it hadn’t grown in her parents’ small backyard-garden when she was growing up, she wouldn’t know what it was.
“Of course, participation in garden maintenance is encouraged. Most do contribute their time and energy. I think this is where most of our energy goes, for without the gardens, we are relegated to thefineofferings of the NuProd machines. Other nutritional options are imported, such as protein pastes and solids, sweeteners, and carbohydrate liquids, which can be combined with the produce to make balanced meals.” Alyce made a pronounced sniff. “If only your cousin had mastered the art of cooking, we could all enjoy a meal out now and then.”
“He won’t be a cook there much longer,” Holly said with a grimace.
“Thank thestarsfor that,” Alyce said with a boost of acceleration as they neared the edge of the gardens and approached another patch of forest. “I understand that Cody is family, but I don’t know why Charles hired him.”
Nor did Holly. “If Charles was so keen on family, he might have bothered to reply to his daughter’s messages, just once.”She said it with her head turned, but Holly caught Alyce’s quick tilt of the head.
“None of us know why Charles made the choices he did,” Alyce said. “But no one blames your mother, or you, for what happened here.”
Holly turned her head to the older woman with a raised brow. “But it’s on me to prove that I’m not like Charles. Or Cody.Stars.” She rubbed her forehead.
“Well, it’s not like you can make it worse,” Alyce said.
Holly thought of her grandfather’s will and closed her eyes. Oh, it could get worse. And if she couldn’t turn the station around, it would.
Thirteen
Prepared with her d-pad and the solid research she’d done on the station, Holly walked into the hotel lounge for the meeting she had set up. It was nearly noon, but no one was there yet. The past week had not been terribly eventful, but it had been productive. Holly had pored over data until her eyes felt like they’d fall out of their sockets. This was her first step on every job she was assigned to at Sol-Arc, and even though Moone’s Landing was the biggest project she’d ever taken on—and also the highest stakes—she felt like she had a decent handle on what needed to be done. Now, she needed input from those that lived here.
As for the real estate consultant staying in room seventeen, she’d seen little of him. Hehadsent her messages. They were stored in her comm’s files. All of them were polite requests to schedule a meeting and she’d replied to none of them. He could message her until they were swallowed by a black hole. She wasn’t going to entertain an offer from Rest ’N Recharge.
Still, she kept tabs on him. According to the spaceport records, Rasker Vipp came and went frequently and Holly could only hope that one of these departures would be his last. This was not spying, she told herself. This was monitoring. It wasimportant to know the position of one’s adversary. He had other business to attend to, surely. Part of her breathed easier when she knew he was not on the station. She was not breathing easier today, however, as Mr. Vipp was very much at the station. She’d seen him jogging just that morning. And, maybe she’d watched him from the window, but it wasn’t because he looked good in tight fitness gear. Although, he did.
Holly turned her attention to the tables and chairs set in clusters around the room. This was fine for dining, but it wouldn’t do for a group meeting. So she set about dragging several tables into a group and arranged chairs around them.
She sat down at one of the chairs and placed her d-pad on the table in front of her. While she waited, she took some time to properly evaluate the space.
It didn’t make a great first impression. The floor was carpeted for reasons that eluded her, and it was with the same faded, worn type that was in the hallway. The furniture was upholstered in colors that might have been vibrant once but had since settled into tones of muted exhaustion. A simple metal bar took up the wall to her right. It was poorly stocked. Lights should have illuminated bottles of colorful spirits from all corners of the galaxy, but half the lights were out and most of the shelves were bare, making the bar look abandoned.
All the way to the left was an open space with a raised dais, as if made to accommodate live music or a small show. What caught her attention the most was the open kitchen that took up the center of the wall facing the door. Kitchens like this weren’t made anymore, but it was a very cool feature of the lounge, in her mind. Actual cooking was a rare treat, a quirky throwback to a time before new, sophisticated NuProds were able to produce just about any dish with perfection. As with most things, old design could be fashionable again. A brand-new cafe had openedin Nova, down the block from her living unit building, in which coffee was preparedby hand, by real people. It was all the rage.
The kitchen equipment was old, but it was also high quality. She looked past the ancient NuProd machine tucked beside a refrigeration unit, to the vintage stove and oven. These were built to last centuries and clearly had. But Cody’s lack of cleaning was evident in the pile of filthy dishes and a smell that made Holly’s nose wrinkle. The rest of the lounge was in good shape. Tables were clean. Floors were vacuumed. That would be Luv’s doing, and it was likely easy to maintain because no one ate here.
Aside from the neglect, the lounge’s layout was good. The room was spacious without feeling cavernous, with alcoves and corners that invited conversation. Some smart decorating could make this space amazing.
Holly checked the time. Exactly twelve o’clock. She worried the corner of her d-pad, wondering if anyone would come.
